Old Riviera Mansions

Timeline

• 1929: Completion of old Riviera Mansions (architect unknown)
• 1952 – 1953: The building to the north of the old Riviera Mansions is built by L Grinker and Partners (CoJ building archives)
• Circa 1965:New buildings to the West of the old Riviera Mansions by Moross & Graff (Chipkin 2008:353)
• 1979 : The building was sectionalised into sectional title units by Kuper & Co. (Pty) Ltd, a property management company.

Historian Gerard van der Waal (1987: 221) noted that apartment buildings were mostly built together with retail on the ground floor. However from the 1920’s and 1930’s apartment complexes developed as a distinct and independent building type. These buildings were significant architectural contributions to suburban Johannesburg.

Early examples tended to show the influence of the late Victorian models.  Rooms were strung along corridors or passages based on a grid scheme.  The façade was lightly articulated with a few decorative elements while rich materials were used to finish the lobbies to make a favourable impression on those entering for the first time.

Prominent features included the articulation of the façade with a central entrance articulated in the mass of the building, creating a friendly reference to traditional domestic architecture. A second feature was the use of balconies which became a means of identification for the buildings. Balconies became a link between the interior and exterior, reminiscent of the veranda house.  Built in the same material as the façade the balconies were visually an integrated element of the whole, but isolated in the fact that they were dedicated to individual apartments. Social space began to move from the communal to the individual. Built-in cupboards and dedicated bathrooms were features of the more affluent flat, with kitchens often being equipped with the most modern appliances of the time such as a refrigerator and an electric stove.

• In the 1920s flats were built in traditional architectural styles, often with classical ornamentation and articulation of the corners and middle sections of the facades.
• Johannesburg society in the 1920’s looked towards both the Cape and London for influence. In the Cape the wealthy found the influence of the Cape Dutch in the architecture.
• Neo-Cape Dutch was one of the new architectural styles to emerge in Johannesburg in the 20^th century, possibly due to the influence of Herbert Baker’s reinterpretation of the style. The style was widely publicised and in many respects represented the search for a new national identity. The style differed from the historical style. Elements were treated in isolation and reinterpreted without reference to their original function or proportions. Gables were adapted to suit various tastes and liberally applied to the buildings. (Van der Waal 1987:234-235)
• Chipkin (2008:64) notes that the style was later appropriated as part of South Africa’s nationalist and Afrikaner identity and became part of middle class sensibilities.